Tiffany Henyard, the Dolton, Illinois, Democrat dubbed as “America’s worst mayor,” is again under fire for throwing an $85,000 taxpayer-funded party featuring performances from R&B singer Keke Wyatt and rapper J. Holiday — with barely anyone attending.
Henyard, who has labeled herself as “Supermayor” of the Chicago suburb, is also a supervisor of Thornton Township, which encompasses Dolton.
At her “Taste of Thornton Township” party that took place in August, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted by WGN Investigates revealed that Henyard paid Wyatt $30,000 to sing for 30 minutes and gave J. Holiday $20,000 for a set of the same length.
The township also rented inflatable bounce houses for $6,600 and paid for comedians, a sound system, event staff, and more — bringing the total bill for taxpayers to at least $85,769.
There have been unconfirmed claims circulating on social media that only 70 people attended the party, meaning that Henyard allegedly spent more than $1,200 per person:
Former Dolton Trustee Valeria Stubbs was one of the attendees and called it a “flop.”
Jennifer Robertz, a resident of the township’s village of Lansing, told WGN she was “flabbergasted” at the cost of the event.
“I was pissed off. That’s my money. That’s the people’s money.”
“This is all for the babies,” Henyard said in a Facebook video viewed by the outlet. “They don’t show you this side of Tiffany Henyard: The productivity.”
Henyard is currently the subject of a “special investigation” conducted by former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who was hired by the Village of Dolton to look into her outlandish spending habits and alleged abuse of office, Fox News reported.
Lightfoot revealed at an August village board meeting that the town’s general fund balance dropped from $5.61 million to a deficit of $3.65 million in just two years under the mayor:
The “special investigator” also shared that Henyard made many expensive purchases at retailers like Amazon, Target, Walgreens, and Wayfair with the village credit card, Breitbart News reported.
One credit card statement Lightfoot shared revealed a whopping $33,000 Amazon order made on January 5, 2023.
“These are somebody using the credit card and charging these amounts using your tax dollars,” Lightfoot told the angered people of Dolton, which has around 20,000 residents.
In a town where 20.2 percent of residents live in poverty according to U.S. Census records, Henyard has a salary of nearly $300,000 with her mayor and supervisor jobs.
Henyard has also faced backlash for covering up an alleged sexual assault committed by one of her colleagues, firing the victim, and hiring a registered sex offender, Breitbart News reported.
The FBI also indicted a Dolton police officer and close associate of Henyard in August on bankruptcy and fraud charges as part of an ongoing federal investigation into alleged corruption within a small town’s government.
Lightfoot’s preliminary investigation revealed that two other Dolton cops were paid for overtime that far exceeded their yearly salaries.
“One officer’s salary for fiscal year 2024 was $87,295, yet the officer received $114,800 in overtime pay. The second officer, with a salary of $73,515, received $102,077 in overtime pay for fiscal year 2024,” Fox News reported of the findings.
